Heel-building machine



v 1,493,430 F. W. DE TOUR HEEL BUILDING MACHINE May 13 Filed April 5. 1920 ,5 Sheets-Sheet 1 wwE May 13, 1924.

F. W. DE TOUR HEEL BUILDING MACHINE May 13, 1924.

F. W. DE TOUR HEEL BUILDING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 5, 1920 May 13, 1924.

F. W. DE TOUR HEEL BUILDING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 7

May 13, 1924. Y 1,493,480

F. w. DE TOUR HEEL BUILDING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1920 5 fleets-Sheet 5 Z 1 90 p 0 v I) Patented May 13, 1924 UNITED sTArEs PATENT oF-rics,

rnanxw; DE moon, or :eEvrmLY, massacnosnrrs, ASSIGNOR r Um'rrm snonma GHINEBY CORPORATION, OF PATEBSO .rzeasrnr. I

Application filed April 5,

To all whom it may concern: V

'Be it known that I, FRANK. W. Dr: Town, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State 5 of Massachuetts, have invented certain Improvements in Heel-Building Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures. This invention relates to heel building machines and, more particularly, to auto- .matic heel building machines in which piles of selected lifts are assembled and secured together by power operated mechanism, to produce heel blanks.

The object of the invention is to produce an improved machine of the character re- 2 ferred to which. shall perform the functions indicated,.and other functions incidental thereto, with speed and certainty, and which, therefore, shall be capable of large production and shall be highly de-- pendable lII-OPBIatlOIL To these ends, the invention includes various features which make it practicable to assemble heel blanks at high speed with such a degree of accuracy-as to secure a uniformly high grade product.

For example, one important feature of the invention resides in the combination with an irreversible [heel blank advancing member, of means, in the path of the blank, for arresting its movement and means located in operative relation to the path of movement of a. heel pile or blank which is being advanced by said member, for securing the lifts of the pile together without remov- 40 ing the pile from its normal path of'movement. (Jonvenient mechanism for producing this result is disclosedin the illustrated embodiment in which the heel pile is advanced by a blank engaging member or finger upon an intermittently moving endless carrier and the mechanism for securing the lifts together is located adjacent to the path of the carrier and in such relation thereto that the securing operation is performed during a period of rest in the intermittent movement of the carrier. It is thus unnecessary to remove the heel pile from the carrier while the lifts are being nailed or otherwise secured together and a two-fold advantage is gained; first, the

N, NEW JERSEY, A conrone'rron on NEW HEEL-BUILDING MACHINE.

, r 1920. Serial no.- 371,470. 7

vancing members may be provided upon the carrier and so related to a series of lift containers or magazines that the said members shall perform the double function of assembling the lifts into a pile and advancing the pile to, and beyond, the station where the lifts are secured together; The said members may, conveniently, take the. form of fingers which may be so spaced and the carrier may be so operated that each finger shall collect the lifts to form a com-' plete heel pile and, each step of the intermittent. motion of the carrier being equal to the space between adjacent fingers, a complete blank will be produced at each of said steps and the lift securing operation will be performed at each pause.

To the end that the operations above described shalloccur in proper sequence and at the proper times, another feature of the invention resides in the combination with an intermittently moving carrier having a series of lift collecting devices movable topresent a series of independent heel blanks successively in position to have their lifts secured together, of means under the control of the carrier for operating the nailing or other lift securing mechanism each time a blank comes within its range of operation. In the illustrated construction the nailing mechanism is power operated and controlled by the blank advancing member or finger which may conveniently be provided with a trip for tripping a clutch and initiating the nailing opera-tion. There being a trip for each finger on the end less carrier, each blank will be nailed automatically when it arrives at the nailing station.

A further feature of the invention resides in the provisiomin combination with a yieldingly' driven blank advancing device of a stop in the path'of movement of a heel pile which is being, advanced by said d'evice and means for withdrawing the stop from the path .of the heel. In a practical embodiment of the invention,-as herein illustrated, the endless carrier to which reference has already been made, is driven through frictional connections from a source of power which tends constantly to keep the carrier in motion. -A stop or gage is located in the path of movement of the heel pile in a osition to be engaged b y the breast edges 0 the lifts. When the lift advancing finger presses the blank against the said stop or gage the finger and gage coact to aline the lifts accurately and the pile is held stationary, the frictional connection above referred to slipping at this time. After the operation of the lift securing means the gage is withdrawn and the carrier immediately resumes its forward movement, the heel blank being carried on beyond nailing position and, if desired, discharged from the machine.

Other features of the invention relating to improvements in the lift containers, the lift pasting mechanism, and other mechanisms contributing to improvement in operation of the machine will be understood and appreciated from reading the following detailed description of a practical embodiment of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view, partly in front elevation and partly in section, of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the pasting mechanism;

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate details of the paste controlling mechanism;

Figs. 7 8 and 9 show the means for alining the lifts transversely;

Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 illustrate the mechanism for nailing the lifts together; and

Fig. 14 illustrates a detail of the magazine adjustment.

A suitable base or frame, comprising -a table 10 supported upon legs 12, is provided for supporting and maintaining the various operative mechanisms in their proper relation to each other. The table 10 is provided with parallel slots 14 through which the upright fingers 16 pass and move freely. The fingers 16 are mounted in pairs upon transverse plates 18 which connect parallel sprocket chains 20. The chains 20 pass around a pair of idle sprocket wheels 22 and a pair of 'driving sprockets 24. The sprockets 22 are mounted upon a shaft 26 which rotates freely in bearings, for vertical adjustment of which provision is made by a bolt and slot connection to the support 12. Similarly adjustable bearings are provided at the opposite end of the machine for the driving shaft 28, upon which the driving sprockets 24 are mounted. These sprockets have their hubs in the form of a hollow drum 30 which surrounds a cylindrical member 32 secured to the shaft 28. Friction plugs 34, spring pressed outwardly in radial recesses in the member 32, engage the inner surface of the drum 30 and thus provide a yielding frictional driving con nection between the shaft and the driving sprockets. The shaft 28 may, at the will of the operator, be connected to, or disconnected from, a source of power herein illustrated as a driving pulley 36 by means of a connector or clutch 38 shifted by a rocker arm 40. The clutch rocker arm 40 is con nected to a manually operable lever 42 by a rod 44. 4

A series of heel lift containers or magazines 46 is supported above the table 10 in such relation to the path of movement of the lift collecting and advancing members or fingers 16 that each pair of fingers, as it passes beneath the magazines, removes successively the lowermost lift from each magazine, depositing them. one upon another to form. a heel pile. The sprocket chains 20 and cross connecting plates 18 constitute an endless carrier for the lift collecting and blank advancing fingers 16. the movement of the carrier being in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1.

\Vhen each pair of fingers 16 has moved past the series of magazines it will have collected in a pile the number of lifts re quired for a heel blank. As it moves beyond the last magazine the heel pile is advanced into engagement with a stop or gage 48 which normally lies in the path of movement of the blank. Resilient fingers 50,- mounted on transversely adjustable supports 52, serve to aline the lifts transversely and, in co-operation with the breast gage 48 and the fingers) 16, to define the position in which the heel pile is to be held while the lifts are secured together.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 10 to 13. the mechanism for securing the lifts together. as illustrated, consists of a pressing and a nail driving device. A bracket 60 bolted upon the table 10 serves as a support for the pressing and nailing devices and the mechanism for operating the breast gage 48. A pair of rods 62, sliding vertically in bosses 64, formed on the forward end of the bracket 60, carry a presser foot 66 actuated in the usual and well-known manner in timed relation to a nail driver 68 to press together and drive a nail through the lifts of a heel pile positioned against the breast gage 48. Power operated heel pressing mechanism being well-known in the art, it is unnecessary to illustrate all the details thereof, it being suflicient'for the purposes of the present invention to arrange the clutch controlling arm 70 of the nailer in the path of the downwardly projecting lugs or trips 72. one of which. is provided for each pair of fingers 16 upon theendless carrier. The arrangement is such that when the carrier reaches the position shown in Fig. 1 in which a heel blank is held in nailing position, the arm is rocked, the nailer clutch engaged and the pressing and nailing mechanism operated.

The stop or breast gage 48 is mounted to slide transversely of the table 10 and is connected by a link 74 to the long arm 76 of a bell crank lever, pivoted at 78 and having a shortarm 80 connected .by a link 82 to a'lever 84 pivoted upon the bracket 60 at 86. The opposite end of the lever 84'has pivoted to ita dog 88 normally held in alinement with the lever 'by a flat spring 89. The construction and arrangement are such that the outer end of the dog can yield downwardly, but not upwardly, with relation to the lever 84. A tappet 90 is adjustably secured by a set screw 92 upon the rod 62or the nail driver bar. as may be convenient. A coiled spring 94 tends constantly to hold the lever arm 76 against an adjustable stop screw 96 to maintain the breast gage 48 in the path of movement of the heel blanks. When the nailer is actuated the tappet 90 moves downwardly but by reason of the yielding of the dog no ef feet is produced upon the lever :84 and the gage 48 is not moved. As the tappet returns upwardly after the nail has been driven the dog is engaged by the tappet and through the connections described the gage 4:8 is retracted to the position shown in Fig. 12, permitting the nailed heel blank to advance beyond the nailing station. Before the next blank has reached the nailing station, however. the tappet 90 will have reached the uppermost position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 12 and will have passed beyond the dog 88, permitting the spring 94 to return the parts to the position. illustrated in Fig 11. Thus, when the arriving blank reaches the securing station, it will engage the stop 48, the movement of the carrier being stopped and the securing operation being repeated. This intermittent lift assembling alining, pressing and securing operation will continue rapidly as long as a supply of lifts is maintained in the magazines 46..

The bottoms of the magazines are placed at progressively greater distances from the table 10 in order to allow for the progressive growth of the heel pile by the accretion of'lifts as the pile is advanced. By proper vertical adjustment of the bearings of the sprockets 22, 24. the upper ends of the fingers 16 may be caused to move in an inclined pathcorresponding to the inclination of a line passing through the lower ends of the magazines.

In order further to facilitate and simplify the duties of the attendant of the machine an important feature of the invention resides 1n a novel and improved constructlon and arrangement of the 11ft magazines, whereby the sizes of all the magazines may be adjusted simultaneously when it is desired to change from one size of heel to another. To this end the rear V-shaped side of each magazine, which engages the curved rear edges of the lifts, is mounted for horizontal adjustment toward and from nthe breast plate or side of the magazine and the mounting of the adjustable members -is such that they may all be adjusted by turning a single, manually operated wheel. Referrin particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the V-shaped rear member 100 of each magazine is supported by oppositely extending brackets 102, 1041 threaded respectively upon rods I 106, 108 which are rotatably mounted in bearings 110, 112 carried by'uprights 114:, 116. The rods 106, 108 extend the entire length of the row of magazines and each is provided at its right hand end with a sprocket 118. The sprockets 118 are geared together by a sprocket chain 120, whereby any rotation of one rod imparts a simultaneous and equal rotation to the other. The rod 106 is provided with a hand wheel 122, by the manual operation of which simultaneous equal adjustment of the sizes of all the magazines may be easily and quickly effected.

In order to provide for the independent relative adjustment of the sizes of individual magazines with respect to each other, which is sometimes necessary, the internally 102, 104: is formed in a sleeve or nut 124 '(see Fig. 14), the outside of which is a loose sliding fit in a smooth bore in the end I of the bracket. The sleeve 124 is retained in place in the end of the bracket by a set screw 126. By loosening the set screws 126 any individual magazine may be adjusted independentlyof the rotation of the threaded rods 106, 108. The set screws may then be tightened and by operating the hand wheel 112 all the magazines may b adjusted simultaneously.

Means is provided for applying paste, or any other suitable adhesive, to the lifts as they are assembled to produce what is known in the art as a pasted heel. In the illustrated machine, pots or containers 128 for paste or cement are located between the magazines, and at the bottom of each container is a paste delivering roll 130, under which the advancing pile of lifts passes and which applies the adhesive to the upper surface of the uppermost lift of the pile.

To the end that the utmost conservation of space may be secured, a feature of the invention consists-in so combining the paste pots or containers that one side of a paste pot serves also for one side of a lift magazine. By this arrangement, an exceedingly compact machine is produced, which is very advantageous both where floor space is valuable and from the standpoint of the ease and facility with which the machine may be served by the atttendant. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the side wall 132 of each paste pet has a flat, smooth outer face which serves as that side wall of the magazine which is engaged by the breast edges of the lifts. This wall is horizontally stationary' and adjustment of the sizes of the magazines is effected entirely by moving the K V-shaped opposite members 160, as previously described.

The shaft of each paste delivery roll 130 is provided with a sprocket 134 and all the sprockets are geared together by a sprocket chain 136 which also passes over, and is driven by, sprockets 138 upon the shafts 26, 28. The rotation of the roll 130 thus effected produces from the pot 128' paste or cement which is applied to the top surface of the uppermost lift of the heel pile when the latter passes beneath the roll, as shown in Fig. 4. In order to insure proper contact of the paste roll with the lift to which paste is to be applied the entire paste pot is supported for vertical adjustment in upright brackets 140 by means of bolt and slot connections 142.

A serious practical objection to the socalled overhead type of paste roll, heretofore, has been that the adhesive would continue to flow from the supply tank and drip .from the roll when the machine was notopcrating and the roll not turning. .This, of course, resulted in a considerable less of paste, but much more serious than this was the gumming and clogging of the operating parts of the machine by the wasted paste. According to the present invention the objectionable features of the overhead'paste roll are eliminated by the construction now to be described.

The roll is supported in bearings 144 secured to the lower ends of the vertical rods 146. These rods are freely movable up and down in guideways formed in the paste'pot casting. The upper ends are threaded into the lower ends of short rods 148 which have secured thereto or formed integrally therewith eccentric straps 150. Each" of these eccentric straps surrounds an eccentric 152 f rmed on the hub of a roll 154 keyed to a horizontal rod 156. There are two of these rods 156, which extend the entire length of the row of magazines and paste pots and each red is provided with a sprocket 158,

the two sprockets being geared together by a sprocket chain 160. The rods 156 are parallel to each other and are rotatable in bearings 162 in the upper ends of the uprights 114 and 116. One of the rods 156 carries a pinion 164 with which meshes a vertically movable rack 166. A pivoted block 168 upon the lower end of the rack bar is slidably engaged by the forked end 170 of one arm of a bell crank lever pivoted at 172 on the under side of the table 10. The other. arm of the bell crank lever is connected by a link 174 to the clutch shifting arm 40. When the arm 40 is rocked rearwardly to engage the driving clutch and thus start the operation of the lift assembling mechanism the rack bar 166 is simul: taneously moved downwardly through the connections just described, rotating the rods 156 and, consequently, the eccentrics 152. lhe rolls 154 bear upon the heads of the vertically adjustable bolts 176 secured in stationary adjusted position by set screws 178. The rotation of the eccentrics 152 causes the rods 146 to be lowered and the paste delivery roll 130 to be moved away from the lower end of the paste pot 128 sufficiently to permit the flow of paste. When the clutch shifting arm 40 is moved in the opposite direction to disengage the clutch the rods 156 are rotated in the opposite direction from that just described, raising the paste delivery rolls 130 into engagement with the lower ends of the paste pots and tightly closing the latter. The flow of paste is thus effectuallystopped and remains stopped as long as the clutch 38 is disengaged and the lift assembling mechanism is not operating. By adjusting the bolts 17 6- the position of the paste roll 130 may be so regulated that the outlet of the paste pot is tightly closed when the parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 4. I

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a heel machine, the combination of a yieldingly driven, irreversible heel blank advancing member, means in the path of movement of the blank for stopping its movement, and means located in operative relation to the path of movement of the blank for securing together the lifts of the blank without removing the blank from its normal path of movement.

2. In a heel machine, the combination of a movable irreversible heel blank advancin of said blank advancing member and cooperating therewith to aline and hold the lifts, and means for securing together said lifts while held by said members.

In a heel machine, the combination of a movable heel blank advancing member, a gage member normally in the path of said blank advancing member and co-oper ating therewith to aline and hold the lifts, means for securing together said lifts while held by said members, and means for then removing the gageinember to permit the continuance of the advancing movement of the blank.

member, a gage member in the path 4:. In a heel machine, the combination of a series of lift collecting members mounted upon an intermittently movable endless carrier, means arranged to be interposed in the path of a heel pile being advanced by the carrier to arrest movement of the carrier, and means operative during periods of rest of the carrier for securing together the lifts of successive heel piles in engagement with the respective collecting members.

5. In a heel machine, the combination of a series of lift collecting fingers mounted upon an intermittently movable endless chain, and means, located at a station in the path of movement of'heel piles collected by said fingers, for nailing together the lifts of successive piles.

6. In a heel machine, the combination of an intermittently movable endless carrier having a series of spaced fingers for engaging and advancing a series of separate heel piles, means arranged to be interposed-in the path of a heel pile being advanced by the carrier to arrest movement of the carrier, and nailing mechanism located in operative relation to the path of movement of the piles and operative during periods of rest of said carrier to nail together the lifts of successive piles.

7. Ina machine of the class described, the combination of a gage, means for assembling a series of lifts into heel pile and pressing the pile against the gage, and means for withdrawing the gage from engagement with the heel pile.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a yieldingly driven lift assembling device, a stop in the path of movement of a heel being'advanced by said device, and means for withdrawing the stop from the path of said heel.

9. In a machine of theclass described, the combination of a frictionally driven endless carrier lift assembling device, driving means tending constantly to advance the carrier, a movable stop in the path of a heel being advanced by said device, and means for gitiidrawing the stop from the path of said 10. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a yieldingly driven lift assembling device, means for securing together a pile of lifts assembled by said device, a stop in the path of movement of said pile constructed and arranged to hold the pile in co-operative relation to the securing means, and means for withdrawing the stop after the lifts are secured together.

11. The construction described in claim 10, in which the stop withdrawing means is operated by the lift securing means.

12. In a heel machine, the combination of a gage for defining the horizontal position of a heel blank to be nailed, a nailer, and means for withdrawing the gage transversely of the heel after the operation of the nailer.

13. In a heel machine, the combination of a ga e for defining the horizontal position of a eel to be nailed, a nailer, and connections controlled by the nailer constructed and arranged to withdraw the gage upon the return stroke of the nailer.

14. The construction described in claim 13, in which the nailer actuates said connections during its return stroke.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a heel blank advancing member comprising a carrier having a plurality of spaced blank advancing devices, a nailer co-operatively related to said blank advancing member to nail the blanks in succession, and means controlled by said member for initiating an operation of the nailer as each of said blank advancing devices reaches nailing position.

16. In a machineof the class described, the combination of a nailer, an endless carrier, a plurality of heel engaging devices on the carrier, and a corresponding plurality of trips on the carrier for initiating the operation of the nailer.

17. In a machine of the classdescribed, the combination of a clutch controlled, power operated nailer, and a carrier having a plurality of lift assembling fi res and a corresponding plurality of c utch tripping lugs.

18. In a heel machine, the combination of mechanism for nailing together the lifts of a heel blank, an endless carrier having a series of lift collecting devices constructed and arranged to advance a series of independent heel blanks successively into the range of operation of the nailing mechanism, and means controlled by the carrier for operatin the nailing mechanism each time a blan comes within its range of operation.

19. In a heel machine, the combination of mechanism for driving a nail into a heel blank, an intermittently movable carrier having a series of lift collecting devices movable to present a series of independent heel blanks successively in nailing position and then to carry them, under control,.beyond said position, and means controlled by the carrier for operating the nail driving mechanism during periods of rest of the carrier.

20. In a heel machine, the combination of a series of lift magazines, and means for correspondingly adjusting simultaneously the sizes of a plurality of said magazines.

21. In a heel machine, the combination of a series of lift magazines, and means for adjusting simultaneously the sizes of all of said magazines.

22. In a heel machine, the combination of. a series of lift magazines, each comprising screw threaded members supporting the said movable sides and providing for simultaneous adjustment thereof relative to the respective stationary sides.

25. A heel lift magazine comprising, in combination, a stationary lift edge engaging member, a movable lift edge engaging member, a sleeve releasably secured 1n said movable member, and an adjusting rod in threaded engagement with the sleeve.

26. In a heel machine, the combination of a paste pot and a lift magazine, one side of the paste pot constituting one side of the magazine. I

27. A combined paste pot and lift magazine for heel machines, one outer face of the paste pot being formed to be engaged by, and to guide, the edges of the lifts in the magazine.

28. In a heel machine, the combination of lift advancing mechanism, power means for operating said mechanism, a paste container, and means for preventing the flow of paste from the container when the power means is not operating the lift advancing mechamsm.

29. In a heel machine, the combination of ing the lift advancing mechanism to, and

disconnecting it from, the source of power, and a paste controller connected to said connector.

30. The construction described in claim 29, in which the connector is so related to the paste controller that operation of the said connector to disconnect the lift advancing mechanism from the source of power stops theflow of paste from the paste container.

31. In a heel machine, the combination of blank handling mechanism, a source of power, a clutch between said mechanism and a serles of blank magazlnes, and irreversiblesaid source of power, and a paste container having a controller to regulate the flow of paste from the container, said controller being so connected to the clutch that the flow of paste from the container is permitted while the clutch 'is engaged and stopped when the .clutch is disengaged.

32. In a heel machine, the combination of g a normally stationary gage for defining the position of a heel to be nailed, a nailer, means for moving a heel into engagement with the gage, and means for withdrawing the gage from the heel .after it is nailed.

33. In a heel machine, thecombination of a normally stationary gage for defining the position of a heel to be nailed, a nailer, means for moving a heel into engagement with the gage, and means for withdrawing the gage from the heel after it is nailed and immediately returning it to normal position. 34. In a heel machine, the combination of mechanism for nailing together the lifts of a heel blank, an endless carrier having a series of lift collecting devices constructed and arranged to advance a series of independent heel blanks successively into cooperative relation to the nailing mechanism, and means controlled by the carrier for operating the nailing mechanism each time a blank comes into co-operative relation there to.

35. In a heel machine, the combination of an irreversible endless carrier constructed and arranged to advance a pile of heel lifts, a'power operated nailer, and a controlling device, operated by movement of the carrier, to cause the nailer to drive a nail through the heel pile.

36. In a heel machine, the combination of an endless carrier having a plurality of heel engaging devices movable successively to a single predetermined position, a nailing mechanism, and means controlled by movement of the carrier for causing operation of the nailing mechanism as each of the heel engaging devices reaches said predetermined position.

37. In a heel machine, the combination of an irreversible intermittently moving blank advancing carrier constructed and arranged to advance simultaneously a plurality of blanks, a clutch controlled mechanism for.

nailing the blanks, and connections operated by the carrier to cause engagement of the nailing mechanism clutch at each pause in the movement of the carrier.

38. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a clutch controlled, power operated nailer, a carrier having a plurality of lift assembling fingers, an plurality of clutch'trips movin with the carrier and spaced to correspon with the fingers.

3-9. In a heel machine, the combinatlon of lift collecting carrier movable past the magazines, a clutch controlled nailer for securing the lifts together, and a clutch controllerarranged to be actuated by the movement of the carrier.

In testimony whereof I have signed to name to this specification.

FRANKW. DE TOUR. 

